Mukherjee says easy policy exit in due course

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government will have to take corrective measures on stimulus in due course and fiscal consolidation is absolutely imperative, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday.

Mukherjee said he was not worried about the availability of food grains and the government will continue to import food items to meet any supply shortfall.

"The prime minister, I understand, has responded to this question. This cannot continue for a long period of time," Mukherjee told a meeting at the World Economic Forum, referring to the exit from easy fiscal policy.

"It will happen in due course. We shall have to take corrective measures," he said.

India's economic growth slowed to 6.7 percent in the fiscal year through March after three straight years of at least 9 percent, and government officials have said growth in the current year is on track for roughly 6.5 percent.

Policymakers including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have pressed the case for keeping easy fiscal and monetary policies in place to nurture growth in Asia's third-largest economy.